Mother shares daughter's abuse story

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - A Jacksonville woman whose ex-boyfriend confessed to sexually abusing her child is speaking out about the abuse.

"There's not appropriate words to describe the feeling as a mother you get when you find this out," the mother said.

The woman asked to not be identified, but spoke with Channel 4's Hailey Winslow about the lesson of awareness she wants to impart to others. Her ex-boyfriend, Wesley Fullard Sr., pleaded guilty Friday to five counts of attempted sexual battery and one count of showing obscene materials to a minor.

Fullard, 43, was sentenced after his guilty plea to 20 years in prison followed by 120 years of sex offender probation.

"When you can't trust the people who are closest to you, then how are you going to trust anyone else out there? You depend on the people closest to you to help you with your children and that's just not the case," the woman said.

In October 2011, an 11-year-old girl told police that Fullard repeatedly sexually abused her for at least four years. While Fullard pleaded to charges of attempted sexual battery, he admitted in open court that he did sexually abuse the child.

"The victim's family agreed this Defendant could plead to a lesser charge of ‘Attempted' Sexual Battery in order to spare the little girl of facing her abuser at trial and reliving the crimes done to her," said Assistant State Attorney Stacie French.

As part of the sentence, Fullard was deemed a sexual predator.

According to court records, Fullard's son, 22-year-old Wesley Fullard Jr., was also convicted on three counts of sexual battery against someone younger than 18. Fullard Jr. was sentenced Sept. 21 to 15 years in prison and 20 years of sex-offender probation.

The State Attorney's Office does not identify the victims of sex crimes, but the little girl's mother said she wants other families to know that there is danger sometimes in your own home.

"Never in a million years would I have dreamed it. I never, never thought twice about it, never," the woman said. "I want the community, the people, the country to know how closely these predators are into our lives."

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